Ash Ketchum: The Very Best
by Random Guy 321
Summary: Mistakes held him back. They prevented him from reaching his goal. Finally recognizing his errors, Ash Ketchum sets out to become the best, like no one ever was. Post Sinnoh.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own 'Pokemon' or any other franchise.

**Prologue**

"Interesting…"

Arceus was intrigued. The torches in his chamber burned brightly as he gazed at the image before him. He watched as the source of his interest cheerfully talked to his yellow companion as he walked. Just who was this boy?

He had never seen such acts of courage and selflessness from a human before. No. Saying never would be wrong. There was a time, centuries ago when he was disgusted by the cruel and selfish ways of humans. But one human had risen above all others and proved that humans too had good in them. He was Sir Aaron, the man who Arceus will forever hold in high esteem. That man had been scarred by war. His actions to stop the war were commendable.

But this boy… A mere boy who had no reason to risk his life had come to stop him from his blind rampage. Why?

"Hi Arcy!"

Arceus sighed as a cheerful voice broke him from his musings. Mew never really cared his state of mind when visiting. She circled around him curiously trying to take a peek at the image before him.

"Whatcha doing Arcy?" she questioned.

"Hello Mew." Arceus greeted her without averting his gaze from the image.

"Hey it's Ash!" Mew exclaimed happily as she finally caught a glimpse of the boy in the image.

Arceus snapped his head in her direction so quickly that it startled the pink legendary.

He narrowed his eyes in interest. "You know this boy Mew?"

Mew tilted her head in confusion."What do you mean Arcy? I told you about him remember?"

The larger legendary was surprised. "You did?"

A deep chuckle was heard as a new figure emerged before Arceus. He turned towards the source of the voice and found a larger version of Mew standing before him. He should have known that Mew would bring her brother along.

"You didn't listen when she went into the details of my creation did you?" Spoke Mewtwo.

Arceus had the grace to look embarrassed. "I thought she was spinning a tale like she usually does," he said.

"Hey!" Mew shouted indignantly.

Mewtwo shook his head. Arceus never did listen to the details. Perhaps this ignorance came with being the oldest of Pokemon.

"And what of the times when the other legendaries spoke of this boy?" Mewtwo asked as he folded his hands, a gesture that he was unconvinced.

"You know how tiresome my work is Mewtwo," Arceus defended. "And what do you mean by 'other times'?"

"Ooh ooh! I'll tell you all about it!" The ever eccentric Mew exclaimed.

Arceus helplessly looked towards Mewtwo who had sat down and closed his eyes. This was going to be a long day… As Mew began her tale, Arceus once again looked at the image before him.

"Very interesting indeed…"

**End of prologue**

**_TDTDTDTDTDTDTDTDTDT_**

**A/N:** Not much of a prologue but this is how I wanted to start this story.

This fic will not have very 'dark themes' but this won't have the same light hearted tone as the anime either. For those who haven't understood yet, this will contain Pokemon up to generation four only. Although I will add attacks and moves from generation five, no Pokemon or characters will be used here. Meaning, Unova doesn't exist. I don't mean that Ash doesn't go there, I mean that Unova doesn't exist entirely. So those who understand this, please bear with me. Ash will instead, travel to another region. Further will be revealed in the next chapter.

Anyway, how was the prologue? Is my writing style bearable? What are the mistakes I have made? How can I improve? Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.

P.S: I need the help of a beta to make this story readable. If anyone is interested, please PM me.

Read and review!


	2. Home coming

Disclaimer: I do not own 'Pokemon' or any other franchise.

**Home coming**

A lone Spearow flew up in the sky carefully searching the trees below for any sign of breakfast. It was fairly early. The sun had just risen just a while ago. But as they say, the early bird catches the worm. Spearow spread his wings further as he glided along enjoying the morning breeze while keeping his eye out for any potential target. He was a bit away from home, but he liked flying.

He gave a happy squawk as he found his soon to be meal. Taking a moment to glide further, he tucked his wings in to swoop down. Today was a good day it seemed. As he prepared to do so, his eyes suddenly caught sight of something. They widened in alarm and he flapped his wings furiously to put more distance his 'target' and himself.

He was _not_ ready to face a human trained Pokemon, especially if said Pokemon happened to be the same Pikachu who hurled a lightning bolt at his flock six years ago.

_**TDTDTDTDTDTDTDTDTDT**_

Ash Ketchum smiled as his faithful yellow rodent came running up to him.

"Ready to hit the road again buddy?" he asked as he placed his hat on his head.

Pikachu took his usual spot on his friend's shoulder. "Pika!" he replied happily.

Ash dusted his pants off before beginning to walk at a brisk pace. His recent journey in Sinnoh had just ended and he was on his way home. Pikachu shifted lightly on his shoulder and he fondly patted the rodent.

"I'm excited too Pikachu. We'll be home soon," he said.

He was too excited to be back home that he cut his sleep short and had been traveling since the break of dawn. His couldn't wait to see his mom and friends again. Just a few minutes of walking and he would be in Pallet town.

Wild Pokemon had just started to wake up and Ash smiled happily at all of them. Even the forests surrounding Pallet town gave him a feeling of being at home.

"We're here Pikachu. Pallet town," he said getting a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Race you home."

_**TDTDTDTDTDTDTDTDTDT**_

It was just like any other day in Pallet, nice, peaceful and quiet. That's what the owner of Pallet's Pokemart thought too as he opened his shop. He was startled by the sudden shout at the end of the road and turned to see a figure with a hat dash past him.

"Hey! You're cheating! No quick attacks!"

The owner shook his head and smiled as he brushed off the disturbance. It looked like somebody was back in town.

_**TDTDTDTDTDTDTDTDTDT**_

Pikachu shouted triumphantly as he reached the Ketchum residence before Ash. He turned to gloat to his trainer only to have dust cloud his vision. When it cleared, he was confused to see Ash quite a bit ahead of him still running without any sign of stopping.

Ash turned and grinned at Pikachu. "We moved remember? I told you about it."

It took a few moments for realization to dawn on Pikachu's face by the time which Ash was far ahead of him. His eyes widened before he went chasing after his trainer.

"_Wait up, damn it! I don't know the way!_"

Ash laughed as he heard Pikachu shout behind him. Perhaps Pikachu was angry? The chase continued for a while with Ash leading Pikachu in circles and Pikachu trying to shock Ash. By the end of the chase, the inhabitants of Pallet town clearly knew that Ash was back. Ash ended up in front of a larger house that his previous house, panting and arguing with Pikachu.

"I won! Not much of a speedster, are you?"

"_You cheated all the way!_"

Ash laughed as Pikachu rapped him on his head with his tail. He was about to knock on the door when it opened and Ash found himself staring at a man who was a couple of inches taller than him. He stared at the raven haired man for a while before his face split into a grin.

"Hey dad!" he greeted happily. The man, Ash's father mirrored his expression.

"Long time no see kiddo! Come on in."

Ash's father was a large man standing at six feet. He had the same raven colored hair as Ash but his eyes were blue. He was well built, a trait that most trainers working for the league had.

Delia's eyes lit up the moment she caught sight of Ash and she ran over to hug him. "Ash!" she cried happily, "and Pikachu too!" The little rodent squeaked happily at the greeting.

One she was done hugging her son, she held him at arms length. "Look at you. All grown up and strong."

Ash dipped his head and blushed but the moment was ruined by Ash's father.

"He's still a runt though," he said with a cheeky grin. Delia spun around to face him with her hands on her hips.

"He's still a growing boy Alex. He'll be taller than you soon," she said with a huff.

Alex brought his hands up in defense. "All right all right. Calm down."

The day passed cheerfully with Ash catching up with his family and him sharing some of his adventures.

"So mom actually participated in battles?" asked a surprised Ash.

Alex nodded with a smile. "Once I convinced her to capture Mimey in a pokeball, she found it fun to befriend and capture some other Pokemon. They're at the Oak ranch now. She even defeated me once."

Delia blushed a bit. "It wasn't that hard…"

Alex gave her a deadpan look. "Were you trying to be humble or did you deliberately insult me?"

Ash and Pikachu broke out laughing at that. Delia and Mimey joined in soon after.

It was good to be home.

_**TDTDTDTDTDTDTDTDTDT**_

**A/N: **A short chapter of getting Ash home.

Next chapter will deal with the explanation of the summary of this fic. I believe the story fill get interesting from there. I didn't want to deal with any of that in this chapter.

And once again I ask you to help me improve my writing. Is my writing style bearable? What are the mistakes I have made? How can I improve? Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.

P.S: I still request the help of a beta reader. If anyone is interested, please PM me.

Read and review!


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